Collar clasp



Jail-12,1943- K. BRENNAN 2,307,819

COLLAR ,CLAS P Filed NOV. 3, 1941 4M2 Jim/2M.

Patented Jan. 12, 1943 UNITED STATES QFHCE COLLAR CLASP Cyril K. Brennan, Attleboro, Mass. Application November 3, 1941, Serial No. 417,675

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a clasp or clip for collars for the purpose of holding the forward portions or wings of a turn-down collar in place, giving the wearer a trim, well-groomed appearance.

It is an object of the invention to provide a clasp which is simple in structure, is easy to attach and detach, and is efiective in operation According to the invention, a spring-actuated toggle device is employed in conjunction with two pairs of jaws which are simultaneously actuated to grip the front edge portions of a turn-down collar adjacent to the opening thereof.

' For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof, and to the drawing of which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a collar clasp embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the clasp shown in Figure I mounted on a collar.

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 l of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View showing the clasp in its open position.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the clasp may be composed of three small metal strips. One of these strips H] has a bowed portion 12 and end portions l4 and It. This strip is preferably made of stifily resilient material such as brass. Coopcrating with the strip ID are a pair of shorter strips or lever arms 20 and 22. These arms are pivoted together as at 24 to form a toggle joint and are also pivotally connected to the strip III at points 26 and 28 between the bowed portion 12 and the end portions l4 and [6, these points thus being spaced by the bowed portion I2. The pivotal connections at 26 and 28 may be of any suitable construction. As shown in Figure 2, the arms 28 and 22 are notched as at 30 and 32 where they pass through holes in the strip ID at 26 and 28, which holes are of such size as to prevent longitudinal movement of the arms through the holes. The end portion M of the strip l0 and the free end portion of the lever 20 constitute a pair of jaws which are adapted to grip a wing of a turn-down collar 40 as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. In like manner, the end portion 16 of the strip l0 and the end portion of the lever 22 constitute another pair of jaws adapted to grip the opposite wing of the collar 40. These jaws portions of the strips may converge in the manner indicated on the drawing or may be substantially parallel to afiord longer collar-engaging areas. Such areas may also be knurled, as shown in Figure 1, for a better grip. The toggle knuckle 24 moves toward and from the concave side of the bowed portion l2 of the strip Iii when the device is operated to close or open the jaws of the clasp. Such motion carries the toggle joint past the line of pivots 26 and 28. A particularly advantageous feature of the clasp is that when the jaws open, they diverge widely as shown in Figure 5 and thus receive easily the marginal portions of the collar which they are to grip. This is especially helpful in the case of soft collars which may be comparatively limp andl bulky. The construction of the clasp is such that the length of the toggle joint, that is, the sum of the lengths of the arms from the knuckle 24 to the pivots 26 and 28, is slightly greater than the direct distance between the points 26 and 28 when the strip I0 is in an unstressed condition. Thus when the toggle joint is moved into on-center position in line with the points 26 and 28, these points are sprung apart slightly against the resilient restoring force of the bowed portion I 2 of the strip [0. Hence, when the toggle joint is moved past center into the position shown in Figure 4 to close the jaws of the clasp, the restoring force of the bowed portion l2 acts to press the jaws toward one another and thus to provide a firm but yielding grip of the jaws on the adjacent portions of the collar A0.

The clasp can readily be removed from the collar by catching the nails of the left forefinger and left thumb underneath the ends of the jaws 20 and 22 and pulling these jaws forward while the right forefinger presses through the necktie 42 against the central portion of the clasp. This results in moving the toggle joint rearwardly past the on-center portion so that the restoring force of the bowed portion [2 snaps the clasp to the open position shown in Figure 5. In mounting the clasp in place, the jaws may be pinched together by the thumb and forefinger of each hand, or the two jaws 2i and 22 may be pressed rearwardly while the toggle knuckle 24 bears against the collar button M or the neck band 46 so as to cause relative forward movement of the joint past the line between the points 26 and 28.

Various modifications and changes may be made in the embodiment of the invention herein described without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A collar clasp comprising a strip of resilient material having a bowed portion, a pair of toggle arms pivotally connected to form a toggle joint and respectively pivoted to said strip at points spaced by said bowed portion, the distance between said pivot points when the strip is unstressed being slightly less than the length of the toggle, whereby movement of the toggle joint past the line of centers of said pivots is resiliently opposed by said strip, said clasp having a pair of jaws at each end thereof actuated by movement of said toggle arms.

2. A collar clasp comprising a strip of resilient material having a bowed central portion and two oppositely extending end portions, and a pair of levers pivotally connected to form a toggle joint and respectively pivoted to said strip at points spaced by said bowed portion, each said lever having a free end portion adjacent to one of the end portions of the strip and adapted to cooperate therewith to form gripping jaws opening and closing when the levers are rocked about their pivot connections with said strip.

3. A collar clasp comprising a resilient strip having a bowed central portion and a pair of oppositely extending end portions, said strip having two apertures therethrough spaced by said bowed portion, and a pair of lever arms pivoted to form a toggle joint and extending through said apertures respectively, each said arm having a reduced portion engaged in the corresponding aperture to prevent longitudinal movement of said lever throughthe aperture, the portions of said levers beyond said apertures being adjacent to respective end portions of the strip to coact therewith as jaws, said lever arms being so related to the bowed portion of the strip as to distort said bowed portion when the toggle joint 's moved past the line between said apertures.

4. A collar clasp comprising a toggle jo rgt consisting of two arms pivotally joined at one end, a resilient member pivotally attached to said arms respectively at points spaced from their junction point and adapted to oppose straightening of said toggle joint, and jaw members integral with said arms and resilient member and operable by movement of said toggle joint.

CYRIL K. BRENNAN. 

